A Friend Indeed
by Freakypet
Summary: People have always gossiped about James T Kirk, it's a fact of Jim's life. Since the day he was born in fact. They gossiped about his sex life, his hijinks, his reputation, on just *how* he got the Flag Ship of the Enterprise, everything seemed up for discussion and hyperbole. But one thing they were never able to exaggerate was Jim's protectiveness about his friends and crewmates


J. Kirk/Leonard 'Bones' McCoy

All rights belong to Not Me.

It was politely pointed out that somehow my A/N hadn't transferred over, so I apologise for anyone who was offended - so here's my AN - better late than never I suppose...

Trigger warning - Poor Bones gets roofied but don't worry, everyone is okay. But it may trigger someone, so if descriptions of a drugged person may trigger, might want to skip this one. Its only brief though.

Friends to lovers, roofied character, BAMF!Jim, Protective!Jim, McKirk.

* * *

People have always gossiped about James T Kirk, it's a fact of Jim's life. Since the day he was born in fact.

They gossiped about his sex life, his hijinks, his reputation, on just *how* he got the Flag Ship of the Enterprise, everything seemed up for discussion and hyperbole. But one thing they were never able to exaggerate was Jim's protectiveness about his friends and crewmates. They were closer than family and Jim took the safety of them very very seriously.

So when he watched as Bones swayed in the arms of the M'L'Jnerian Ambassador, he grew slightly concerned. Bones wasn't known for indulging in drink when on a mission, in fact quite the opposite.

With a speaking glance to Spock who nodded imperceptibly to anyone else watching, Jim graciously extracted himself from his conversation with the Prime Elect and his entourage and made his way through the crowded ballroom, smiling politely at people, murmuring a word here and there, but never taking his eyes off Bones. The Ambassador had his arms around Bones' waist and Bones' one arm was over the Ambassadors shoulder while the other was rubbing at the permanent crease in Bones' forehead, as though confused about something. The Ambassador and Bones were nearly at the door by the time Jim reached them.

Clapping a friendly hand on Bones' shoulder, he subtly halted their escape.

"Bones, I've been looking for you, where you been, man?" Jim jovially asked, his countenance friendly and open, meanwhile his attention was scanning Bones from head to toe.

Dilated pupils, slight shaking of his hands, pale, drowsy looking, yeah something wasn't right.

"Jim? Oh hey Jim," Bones slurred, his gaze seeming to be looking over Jim's left shoulder "imam juss talkin to Mili 'ere and we's gonna go sit somewhere cause Imma bit woogy."

Behind them, Spock's face showed his extreme surprise at this completely unknown version of Dr McCoy with a single raised eyebrow and head tilt.

Jim pressed his lips together and forced out a joking smile.

"Nah Bones, you can't leave now! Party's just started! The peace accord is signed and everyone is happy. Come on with me and I'll get you right." Jim stepped close and slung Bones free arm over his shoulder and gently attempted to tug him away from the now frowning Ambassador.

"I * _click_ * have the situation * _click_ * in hand Captain * _click_ *. Some offworld * _click_ * beings have trouble * _click_ * with our consumables * _click_ *." The hard plate-like lips of the Ambassador hid the frown well, but after 2 months of difficult negotiations between the birdlike peoples of the M'L'Jnerian and the aquatic squidlike peoples of the neighbouring planet had given Jim the experience to know when he was being bullshitted.

Bones just blinked confusedly and opened his eyes wide before sagging against his Captain.

"Christ Jim, I'm so damn dizzy." He muttered.

Jim frowned and glanced at Spock who moved closer and placed his own hand on the Doctor's back.

"If you would excuse us Ambassador, it appears that Doctor McCoy is currently indisposed and should return to the Enterprise."

Jim tugged his CMO hard to get the Ambassador to release his stubborn grip causing Bones head to swing and slam into Jim' shoulder and stay there.

But the Ambassador shocked them all. Instead of releasing the now sagging muttering Doctor to his Captain, he suddenly flashed bright blue and out of nowhere, an explosion of feathers slammed into Spock, sending him flying several feet away. His other wing flicked out of its concealing robes and punched Kirk square in the face. Kirk heard his nose crunch and pain whited all vision from his eyes but he clung to Bones as he felt the man being yanked hard away from him.

"BONES!" Jim's vision cleared to see the Ambassador clutch at the now almost unconscious doctor, the vibrant blue wings beating back and forth as he struggled to yank Bones from Jim's locked grip. It was like a blue jay and a Labrador fighting over a bone – the thought flashed through Jim's mind.

Jim wrapped his hand further into Bones' uniform and hollered for Spock. He had left his phaser on the Enterprise as they all had – friggen Peace talks! – and he wasn't risking this birdbrained arsehole getting his Bones!

Suddenly there were brown flashes and Jim was surrounded by the version of this people's police and his arms were being pulled away from Bones. He swung a freed fist, but it was gripped and shoved up behind him. He watched horrified as the triumphant sneer crossed the Ambassador's face as he wrenched Bones to his side once more. But it wasn't long lived as his arms were also removed from his prize and soon both of them found themselves in a side room, with their own police guard, the Prime Elect and all of the Enterprise Command team.

"* _click_!* Explain Yourselves!*" The fury on the Prime Elect's face was clear and Jim straightened his uniform.

"Where is my Medical Officer?" Jim just as furious, demanded quietly, his own authority making itself very clear.

With a pause, the Prime Elect glanced towards one of his constant entourage and then back at Kirk.

"Doctor McCoy has been taken to * _click_ * our Aid Rooms Captain. You shall see him as soon as this * _click_ * 'situation' is sorted."

Jim was highly tempted to remind the Prime Elect who he was, but at a glance at Spock who merely nodded his support, Jim wanted this dealt with NOW! He wanted to see Bones and make sure his best friend was safe.

He looked at the Ambassador, who had smoothed his feathers and looking like all smarmy politicians from the dawn of time - smug, and as though nothing could touch him. Jim wanted to plant his fist right in that feathered face.

"Prime Elect, I was attempting to return my CMO who appeared to be drugged or incapacitated in some way, to the Enterprise when the Ambassador here had other ideas." Jim almost spat out, his fury rising even more as the situation started to sink in.

The Prime Elect's feathers fluttered subtly and he looked to the Amabssador. With a head toss and a fucking PREEN –Jim's blood pressure rose, but other than a sight tightening of his lips, he wreastled it under control – the Amassdaor leveled another sneer at the Enterprise officers.

"The Doctor had * _click_ * consented to spending an * _click_ * yann in my nest. We were just leaving * _click_ * when the Captain jealously interfered. * _click_ * I merely attempted to maintain our connection against an obvious jealous suitor."

Jim saw red and if it hadn't been for Spock's slight touch to his elbow, he might have taken that longed for swing.

"Where we come from, _Ambassador'_ Jim snarled 'we don't drug our partners, we get clear and proper consent. What you were about to do is considered a crime in the Federation. My Medical Officer was clearly under some form of intoxication!"

At that, the entire entourage fluttered and twitched, like chickens in a hen house with the scent of fox on the air. Their entry into the Federation had been hinging on a successful Peace Treaty and with that done, they didn't want anything marring the process Jim supposed.

 _ ***CLICK!***_ The snapping of the Prime Elects beak cut through the chittering like a knife through butter.

He turned to Kirk and bowed deeply, surprising the Catpain and his crew. It had been the first instance the Prime Elect had offered anything that lowered his obvious standing. With his neck exposed and his feathers puffed, he was essentially telling Kirk that he was at his mercy and control.

After a moment, he rose, whispered to a smaller whitish woman who darted away and addressed the Enterprise crew.

"Please indulge an old man for a few moments Captain, if you would." Jim nodded his agreement and stepped back beside Spock, Nyota, Sulu and Chekov.

It literally was only a few moments as the woman darted back in, her feathers all ruffled and puffy as she whispered in the Prime Elects ear.

Jim could see the instant the news sunk in. The Prime Elect's feathers seem to sag and Jim suddenly saw a very old man, tired and weary where before he had only seen a vibrant leader of a thriving world.

It was as though the colour plug had been pulled from the Prime's feathers as they greyed slightly until he shook it off and returned to the strong leader Jim had become accustomed to.

"My deepest apologies to you and your crew Captain Kirk and most especially to your esteemed Doctor McCoy. Our own doctors have indeed confirmed that the Doctor was drugged in some way. They have administered an antidote and have contacted your med bay on your ship. A Dr M'Benga is beaming down on your say." A beep from Jim's communicator indicated that he was correct and Jim turned away to speak to M'Benga quietly.

"I do hope my doctors impetuousness in contacting your ship before you, will not cause too much offense Captain?" The Prime Elect asked quietly. "They merely have limited knowledge of your species and our way is to seek solutions quickly." Jim nodded and drew breath to ask his question, but Prime Elect seemed one step ahead again. "Reports indicate that your Doctor is fully recovered and is now sleeping off the treatment. Your Dr M'Benga is merely a precaution." Jim exhaled relieved, rubbing his hand over his face as thought to wipe away the gathered stress and blood.

"Prime Elect, thank you for your assistance. Might we please have an escort to Doctor McCoy, I'm sure you understand our wish to ascertain his recovery for ourselves?" Jim pulled all his authority up as he faced the birdlike M'L'Jnerians, his question an obvious statement. "I'm sure you will forgive our leaving early, but I feel we should return to the Enterprise."

Prime Elect clicked and nodded his head and gestured to one of his envoy to accompany the crew.

"Again, my deepest apologies and I will contact you tomorrow Captain." With another deep bow, again affording Jim and his crew what was essentially the strongest form of respect in this culture, the Prime Elect motioned the envoy to lead the Enterprise Crew to their sleeping Medical Officer.

Jim felt dizzy with relief when he finally got to Bones' side and saw with his own eyes, that Bones was indeed sleeping soundly. M'Benga was standing over the Doctor with a medical tricorder and smiled grimly at Kirk and the crew as they entered the large medical bay.

"Captain. I have read the report and run my own diagnostic. Leonard appears to be fully recovered as I was informed and have confirmed and is just sleeping now. Their medical procedures are slightly different than ours, apparently they placed Dr McCoy into an induced sleep cycle in order to strip the drug from his blood. A tad barbaric by our standards, but extremely effective."  
Jim noticed the bandages on Bones elbows and M'Benga nodded as he noticed.  
"They actually use needles!" M'Benga exclaimed slightly stunned at the old technology he hadn't used since training in med school.

"When can we beam him back to the Enterprise M'Benga? I want him off this planet as soon as possible." He growled softly at the Doctor who merely checked his tricorder.

"We can leave now Captain" was exactly what Jim had been hoping to hear.

It was a few hours later before Bones woke up. Jim was sitting in a visitors chair by Bones' side in the Sickbay, absently flicking through paperwork on his PADD when he heard the biobed chime. His head snapped up to see Bones rub his face with a shaky hand.

"Bones? How do you feel?" Jim was standing beside his friend before he even realized he had moved.

"Dammit Jim, what the hell happened?" Bones growled and Jim sagged slightly at the sound. Grumpy Bones meant the Universe was where it should be.

"What do you remember Len?" Jim hovered. Bones squeaked open a suspicious eye and glared up at his Captain.

"You only call me Len when something's wrong Jim. Spit it out kid!" But at Jim's tight lipped look, he sighed.

"You are such a damned infant." He grumbled as he pressed the button to make the bed sit him up. Once he was sitting upright, he rubbed the back of his neck and struggled to remember.

"Last thing I really remember is sitting down at that damned dinner with the fluffy bird people and talking to that blue Ambassador guy. After that, nothing but hazy images and sounds."

Jim sighed, sat on the edge of the bed and filled Bones in. He was watching his friend absorb the news.

"God Jim. What? How do I even?" Leonard scrubbed at his forehead. Jim really wanted to hug his friend but fought to sit back and pat Bones shoulder instead. Bones looked up suddenly. "Jim, I can't thank you enough. I don't know what was going on, but thank you for intervening." Jim looked away, uncomfortable with the thanks.

"Nothing you wouldn't have done Bones. Now M'Benga tells me to tell you to sleep. They did some needle blood draining thing…" Was all he got out before Bones was demanding to see a PADD and a tricorder.

Jim spent the rest of the night by Bones bedside, refusing to leave and assuring the grumpy Doctor he had plenty of paperwork to keep him occupied and for once, Bones didn't argue much before conceding and laying back down. They weren't alone long anyway, as one by one the Command Crew all checked in at some point over the night to see how their Doctor was doing and pass on their thoughts. Bones was especially surprised at Spock's almost emotional words of pleasure at seeing the Doctor recovered from the incident.

A comm at 0800hrs from Prime Elect requested that the Command Team meet them in the Main Hall on the planet with a personally worded request for Doctor McCoy to join them in one yann.

It was a surprised Enterprise Away Team that greeted the group in the meeting hall at the prescribed hour.

The entire Elected Committee - all 88 Members, all in full regalia, feathers all standing at what the Team had been briefed as Full Honours, with Prime Elect not dressed in his fine robes from before, but in a dusty old brown and grey robe that had definitely seen better days, kneeling on a small padded knee bench at the front of the group.

Jim glanced at Nyota who shrugged her similar confusion. There had been nothing of this in the very thick files they had been given.

A Short plump woman with dark brown skin and matching feathers stepped forward and bowed low.

"Thank you for * _click_ * returning. We * _click_ * humbly ask that the Offended One * _click_ * please honour us by stepping * _click_ * forward?" It was most clearly a question, the choice to refuse clear in the asking. With a shrug, Bones stepped forward.

"I'm guessin you mean me." With that, the entire assembly sank to their knees and bowed their heads.

"What the Hell Jim?" Was Bones' harsh whisper. Jim had no idea and a look at his crew showed none of them did either.

The Spokeswoman rose from her bow.

"Our People * _click_ * bow to show you our remorse at your injury." She quietly explained. It appeared the Prime Elect had foreseen this and had offered a spokesperson. "You were in our nest at * _click_ * our wish and we failed in our duty * _click_ * to protect you. This * _click_ * shames * _click_ * us all."  
Bones blustered.

"Now see here, none of y'all had anything to do with the actions of one… man.. bird.. entity.. gah, get up, damn it." He snapped frustrated. Spock stepped up and whispered sofly into the Doctors ear and Jim saw Bones visibly stiffen then deflate and nod at whatever the Vulcan said.

The assembled group rose at Bones snapped command but the Prime Elect stayed kneeling. Bones rolled his eyes and gestured at Jim to do something.

Jim stepped forward and glanced at the Prime Elect then back to the Spokeswoman who nodded her own understanding.

"Our * _click_ * Prime * _click_ * Elect was the Nest Leader. The failure falls on him." She spoke without even looking in the old leader's direction. Bones looked at the roof as though seeking assistance from an entity he didn't believe in. The spokeswoman glanced confused at Jim and then back at Bones. It was obvious she was picked for her unobtrusiveness and ability to speak Standard but she had no real understanding of the alien beings in front of her. Jim stepped closer and turned on his famous smile. She immediately flipped her feathers and flushed a little. 'Yup, even now, I still have it.' Jim smirked to himself but started at Bones snort. When he glanced at his friend, Bones cocked an eyebrow that clearly said "God Jim, really?" and Jim cleared his throat and resolutely put his back to his friend and addressed the small birdlike woman.

"And so what happens now?"

She bowed her head and waved forward two men standing at the back of the room.

"* _click_ * We offer compensation * _click_ * to the Offended" a large box was placed at Bones feet and the two men rushed away, "and ask * _click_ * that he decide * _click_ * the fate of the dishonored one."

Bones opened the lid of the box and Jim could see it was filled with jewels and what he assumed was precious metals.

"Where did these come from?" Kirk asked. The woman pressed her beak together and looked away, obviously highly uncomfortable with either the question, the answer or both. Jim pinched the bridge of his nose. Spock stepped forward.

"Doctor, it appears that as You are the 'Offended' party, it is you that sets the punishment. According to the M'L'Jnerian culture, it appears that the one who offers the protection, i.e. the Prime Elect in this case as he was the one who invited us here, is the one who is punished when the guest is assaulted."

Jim spun around.

"Hey The Prime Elect hasn't done anything wrong here! In fact, he's been on the ball with this whole thing! It was the Ambassador.." A whispered fluttering though the crowd broke Jim's words. Interesting.

"So let me get this straight. This guy gets punished because some other bastard decided to try to drug and rape me? How on god's green earth does that even remotely make sense?" He turned to the still kneeling and bowed elder. "For god's sake get up man, I ain't punishing you for the actions of someone else!" A sigh filled the room as the feathered inhabitants' behind the Prime Elect whispered and fluttered. Jim stepped forward and offered an arm to the shaking elder.

He whispered to the Prime Elect. "Are we making things worse by not 'punishing' you?"  
The Elder smiled ruefully.  
"No Captain, it is * _click_ * merely not often done."  
Jim nodded to Bones wordlessly but Bones knew exactly what was not said and relaxed a fraction.

Jim assisted the Elder to a close chair and crouched beside the shaking man. Bones, seeing the man was more affected than just kneeling for a while, hurried over, whipping out his tricorder and running is automatically over the elder.

The Prime Elect looked up with surprise.

"We injured you Doctor * _click_ *, yet you still offer assistance?" He asked, the shock clear in his voice

"I'm a doctor, not judge and jury." Bones checked the readout and pursed his lips. "Nothing but exhaustions it appears." He glared at the elder. "You eaten anything or gotten any sleep lately?" He growled. The surprise on the elder's face turned to shock.

"No. I * _click_ * was fasting since the Ambassador * _click_ * confessed his crime." At the Ambassadors name, Bones' face darkened.

"Speaking of that devil, where the hell is he?"

The Prime Elect waved to a guard and moments later, a bedraggled naked man was dragged in by his arms. His entire body was naked except for a loin cloth. And by naked, he hadn't just been stripped of his clothes, he been stripped of all his feathers. His wings hung like those of a plucked chicken and Jim realized with a start, that was exactly what had happened.

The Prime Elect saw the horror then disgust on the faces of the crew as they realized what had happened.

He shakely rose to his feet and stood proudly as he addressed McCoy and Kirk as they stood by him.

"You said * _click_ * that what he had attempted was a crime in your Federation. In our culture * _click_ *, it is as well. Those actions are the actions of one * _click_ * who does not deserve the honour of a nest. The one who does such a thing * _click_ * is one who is not welcome in any Flock. His genes * _click_ * are not to be passed on. * _click_ * Any eggs unhatched would be destroyed. Any fledglings in his care * _click_ * would be removed and nested with those who would raise them to know better * _click_ *. He is stripped of all finery * _click_ * and is to be cast out of the Flock for all eternity. His name is removed * _click_ * from all history so that all will know of the shame he wrought on another's * _click_ * nest. All his wealth is now yours Doctor McCoy as reparation." Bones went to say something, but at the look on Jims face, held his tongue. Spock again stepped forward and Jim saw him whisper something about Prime Directive into the Doctors ear.

Prime Elect sagged, the long night weighing on the man's shoulders. Bones hurried to the elder's side.  
"Did the ambassador have any kids.. I mean fledglings?" The elder studied Bones for a moment.

"He had 2 * _click_ * fledglings, but we do not punish the young for the sins of their elders" he replied carefully, not wanting to offend now, but clearly not willing to budge either.  
Bones shook his head.  
"Naw, just I don't need a box of trinkets. Give 'em to the kids, it ain't their fault their daddy was a dick." The Elder studied the Doctor and the Jim before shaking his head ruefully and smiling.

"I think * _click_ *that we have a lot to learn about you Federation peoples." He said as he waved over and ordered the box removed and the ex-ambassador with it.

Four days later, Jim was in Bones' rooms, a whiskey in one hand and a PADD in the other as he waited for the Doctor to finish up his shower. They had wrapped up the final parts of the negotiations quickly and were now on their way to a much needed shore leave at Risa while the Enterprise when through a much needed restocking and refitting.

Bones had gone straight back to work but Jim was worried. Over the past few days, the dark bruises under Bones' eyes were deepening and his attitude had gone from Bones Grumpy to downright surly and anyone even LOOKING at the Doctor was guaranteed a snarling set down. Jim had braved the question of "You okay Bones?" a few times until even he was wary of poking the bear.

Now they were catching up with their usual Friday night drink and hang out and Jim was determined to talk to his friend.

He waited until Bones was settled next to him with his own whiskey and PADD as they worked side by side, comfortable in the friendly silence. Jim didn't even notice that Bones had fallen asleep until his PADD slipped from his slack hand and slid into the floor with a muffled thump. He studied his friend and saw the exhaustion plain on the sleeping face. Even as he sat there watching, Bones eyes started flicking back and forth under his eyelids and moments later, Bones jerked awake, sweat gathering on his face as he reflexively clutched at his whiskey glass.

He jumped again when Jim spoke, as though he had forgotten Jim was even there.

"You sleeping at all Bones?" Jim asked gently.

Bones looked as though he was going to rip into Jim, but at the last second, he slumped and threw his head back on to the back of the couch.

"God Jim, barely a bloody wink." He lifted the whiskey to his lips and downed the rest in one flowing gulp. Jim swallowed at the sight of Bones' throat moving and with a shake, refocused on his friend.

A few moments later and Bones continued.

"I know nothing happened. I KNOW, but I still get these flashes, these 'what ifs' and its killing me Jim. Anytime I close my eyes…" Bones sighed tiredly. "Before you ask, Yes CAPTAIN, I'm seeing Annabell – I'm not stupid, I know when a head doctor is needed." He grumped before getting up and getting another drink. He sank back down next to Jim with his drink and a fresh one for Jim as well. "It's just gonna take some time I guess." He sipped his drink and they sat there in the quiet.

Jim rested his hand on Bones' shoulder. "Len, if you ever want to talk or not, whatever, I'm always here man." Bones smiled, the exhaustion finally falling away from his eyes for just a moment.

"Thank God for that Jim, thank god for that." For the next hour, talk turned to various topics, work, slight gossip they knew they could indulge in just between the two of them, until Jim watched as Bones' eyes blinked more and more slowly until a cracking yawn told the story of Bones complete exhaustion.

"Bones, go sleep, I'll head off. I've got more reports to finish up over this whole thing anyway." Jim gathered up his PADD and jacket and stepped towards the door but halted at Bones' whispered "Jim…"

Jim looked back over his shoulder and his heart ached at the look of confusion on Bones' face.

He made a split decision and threw his jacket back on the couch, kicked his shoes off and walked over to the bed. It wasn't like they had never shared a bed, hell, they had crashed in each other's rooms on numerous occasions after drunken nights out and often shared the same bed in a drunken sprawl. But this was different in that neither of them were smashed.

But Kirk took the decision out of Bones hands. He heel-toed off his shoes and settled down on top of Bones' grandma's quilt on the left side of the bed and then looked up at his friend.

"Well? You wanna sleep or what?" Jim grabbed his PADD and settled back against the headboard and pretended to study his report while watching Bones out the corner of his eye.

With barely a shrug, Bones stripped off his sweatpants and leaving his boxers and t-shirt on, he crawled under the sheets and turned on his side, his back to Jim. Jim ordered the lights to 20% and focused on his report.

After a few minutes, he heard a whispered "Thanks Jim"

Jim woke to the beeping of his morning alarm on his comm and realized three things.

One was that he was very warm and comfy like he hadn't been in a very long time.

Two, he was laying on his back with a sleeping doctor sprawled over his chest. Every breath he took fluttered the honey brown hair that was merely inches from his lips as Bones' head was resting on his chest. A large hand was lightly gripping his left hip and a heavy weight of a thigh was covering both of Jim's. Apparently at some point in the night, Jim had fallen asleep and now was being snuggled by his irascible doctor. Jim breath caught and he froze, absorbing every feeling, every sensation he could and stored it away. He had fallen for his friend all the way back in the Academy but knew Bones was as straight as a ruler so never made a move. But this, this was almost guilt free. Almost.

Three – Bones had slept the whole night through.

After a few minutes luxuriating in the feeling of being in the arms of his Bones, Jim gently extracted himself and disappeared into the shower to deal with an issue that had… popped up so to speak. While he was in there, Bones had apparently woken up because as soon as he exited the bathroom, he was struck by the smell of breakfast and witnessed Bones grabbing plates from the replicator and sliding them on to the table.

"Jim, breakfast?"

And that was just how the next week went. After shift, Jim would eventually meet Bones at the Mess for dinner and then they would make their way back to Bones' quarters where they would head off to bed. By now Jim was sleeping properly in the bed and Bones was actually sleeping again. In fact, it was almost funny how a few nights worth of sleep and Jim was getting accosted by crewmembers thanking him for whatever he did to make Bones happy. Well, 'happy' wasn't the actual work used, but Jim felt it was close enough.

And every morning, Jim would wake up before Bones and sneak into the shower and deal with the result of being pressed up against the man he loved all night. And every morning he would get out of the bathroom to Bones having ordered up breakfast.

On the eighth morning, with Bones' thigh resting full on Jim's Happy Morning Erection and his arm across Jim's stomach, Jim felt as though his life was almost perfect. Except for the fact that Bones didn't want him like that and Jim felt as though he was taking advantage of his friend. Yes, Bones was sleeping again and the fact was that he probably didn't need Jim there anymore. But Jim was struggling to find the strength to stop it all. It was so close to everything he had ever dreamed about.

But Jim was strict on a few things and full consent was one of those. And as he couldn't exactly come out and tell his best friend that he loved him, the next best thing would be to head on back to his own quarters again. At that thought, Jim's Happy Morning friend ran quickly disappeared but he still slid out of bed and hurried to the shower. If nothing else, he didn't want to embarrass his friend by letting him find out he was spending the night as an octopus wrapped around his platonic best friend.

Bones was up and ordering breakfast even in the quick 10mins Jims was in the shower. Jim wondered just how quickly Bones was getting up after he was, but resolutely pushed the query away. He didn't want to think about Bones maybe hearing Jim wanking off in the shower and definitely DIDN'T want to think of Bones hearing him maybe murmuring his name as he came. It was once, okay, just the once. But still.

It was a quiet morning, barely a handful of words exchanged and Jim thanked the gods that Len was an even surlier bastard in the morning and mostly grunted conversations over his coffee.

During his shift, he took the cowards way out and sent a note to Bones' comm letting him know that he had to stay back and catch up on some final things before they hit Risa on the next Alpha shift and that Jim would catch up with Bones later. He did indeed have some final reports to do, but he was done well before he knew Bones went to bed, so he headed to the gym and pounded around the track for an hour before heading up to his quarters. Not wanting to see an empty bed when he had just spent the past week wrapped up in the only bed he ever wanted, he left the lights off and went to sulk in the shower for a while. It was only when the tug of exhaustion was making itself known that Jim turned off the shower and dried off and stumbled through the darkened room. If he kept the lights off, maybe he could fool himself into thinking Bones was already asleep in his bed.

Nope. He spent a long night feeling uncomfortable and cold in the environmentally maintained bedroom.

He was just drifting off some hours later, when the whoosh of his door opening startled him awake. By the time he got his eyes open, the room was in darkness again as the door whooshed shut. A moment later, the bed sagged and he heard a gruff voice whisper.

"You damned fool"

"Lights! 70%!" and Jim blinked in the sudden brightness. Bones was laying on 'his' side of the bed, watching as Jim blinked in confusion.

"Whaa?" He muttered confused.

Bones frowned. "What do you take me for Jim, A damned fool?" When Jim still looked down at him confusedly, Bones sighed again.

"Come Here Kid." He murmured and reached up to cup the back of Jim's head and pulled him down to meet his kiss.

Jim remained frozen for a moment, until he felt the confidence in Len's kiss slowly fade away and with a start, returned the kiss with every atom of his being. He poured all his long held love into the kiss and could feel the moment Bones felt it.

Hours later, and Jim rested on his stomach as Bones slept in his usual place, sprawled across Jim like a human blanket. In the dark, between bouts of passion and love, the two men had spoken of their unrequited love for each other and had in turns, despaired their stupidity and fear in wasting so long apart. But that was behind them now and while they had yet to discuss anything deeper – there hadn't been THAT much time between bouts of sex, Jim AND Bones both had a lot of time to make up for – Jim knew that their future would be very much together.


End file.
